Burlington’s Offense Drives First Second Half Victory

Burlington, IA - The Burlington Bees' (14-14, 1-0) bats exploded to begin the second half. After an 11-run first inning, the team defeated the Normal CornBelters (12-16, 0-1) 14-10. 

The Bees finished with 17 hits and trailed 5-0 after the top of the first. 

In the bottom of the inning, Cole Yearsley (Winthrop) singled to lead it off. Corey Boyette (Lipscomb) walked with one out to put two on.

Miles Risley (Iowa) drove a single to right and got to second on an error. Yearsley scored for Risley's 20th hit of the year. 

Mason Schwalbach (Southern Illinois) followed with a single to score two and make it 5-3. 

Kooper Schulte (Iowa) began his second half with quite the bang. The righty smashed one over the right field fence to tie it. It was his third home run of the year. 

Caleb Seibers (Olney Central) hit one out to make it back to back to give the team the lead. It was the first time in 2025 the Bees hit consecutive homers. 

Normal tied it in the second and Burlington rallied in the third. 

Jace Figuereo (SCC) singled to start the third inning. He came in as a replacement. 

In th

Schwalbach doubled to bring Figuereo home and retake the lead. Schulte followed with a single to put two on base.

Seibers came across with his second home run in as many at-bats. It brought his total to four long bombs on the year. 

Leading 9-6, Burlington had their best pitching through the middle innings. 

Danny Harris (Mesa CC) got the start. Despite the tough first inning, he finished with two earned runs through five innings. The Phoenix native ended the outing with three straight zeros.  

Jack Duncan (Western Illinois) had his best outing in middle relief. The Leatherneck tossed three innings with one earned run, while striking out two. 

The Bees offense came alive for two in the sixth and seventh. 

Caleb Klein (SCC) walked and stole second to kick off the sixth inning. Figuereo came up with an RBI single. 

Schulte got his fourth hit of the game to plate one more. 

In the seventh, Danny Rollins (Murray State) was hit by a pitch. Colin Schmitke (SCC) singled to make a situation with no outs. 

Yearsley walked to load the bases. Klein followed with an RBI single. Figuereo followed with a fielder's choice to pick up his second RBI of the day. 

Normal scored once in the eighth and three in the ninth to make a 14-10 final.

In the bottom of the eighth, Schmitke pieced an RBI double to tack on another.   

Harris received the victory. Luka Zakman got the loss. 

Normal returns home to take on the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp (11-14). The Bees close out their homestand against the Clinton LumberKings (18-7).